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Social Media (for marketers) is not a communications vehicle.

Posted 02.08.10 by Adrian Ho

As you may have heard, I was invited to the awesome state of Vermont by Rich Nadworny last week to give a talk at the Burlington Social Media Breakfast. Rich was an amazing host and arranged to have me and my family stay the Trapp Family Lodge which was absolutely incredible.

IMG_2713

For those of you who are as ignorant as I am, the Trapp Family are the real family that the Sound of Music was based on. This lodge which is actually a resort has beautiful rooms, a great restaurant, acres of cross country ski trails and an awesome indoor pool with a rock-climbing area. We had a blast there and wound up spending most of the weekend at the lodge as there was so much to do. Huge thanks to all there for your hospitality.

I gave a presentation about our (Zeus Jones) take on social media which – you won’t be surprised to learn – we see as another place to do things for people, not another place to say things to them. It seemed to go well, the slides are below:

#Btvsmb

View more presentations from Zeus Jones.

As the other presenter dropped out at the last minute the Q&A was extended a bit. There were a lot of good questions but the theme that appears to have generated the most debate was my assertion that I think most people aren’t really looking for a relationship with a company or brand. I said the same thing to the Burlington Free Press:

“I think the majority of people aren’t really looking to form a two-way relationship with a company. They want more tangible things like better service, better products, lower prices, more access, more availability, more recognition and so on,” he said. “I think social media is a perfect way to deliver a lot of these things.”

To clarify, I think it’s useful for people to have a relationship with real people inside companies that they do business with, but I think that most social media marketing is aimed at getting people to build relationships with the company or brand itself which IMHO is a mistake.

There were some interesting responses to this from a number of people here, here and here.

UPDATE: Also more commentary here and here (free only 2/9/10).

And finally a video of the presentation here.

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  • http://www.ubervu.com/conversations/www.zeusjones.com/blog/2010/social-media-for-marketers-is-not-a-communications-vehicle/ uberVU – social comments

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by plnnrz: Social Media (for marketers) is not a communications vehicle.: As you may have heard, I was invited to the awesome… http://bit.ly/9Yq6Qq...

  • http://icontract.wordpress.com/ Nishad

    Adrian

    Is there a video of the presentation somewhere?

    Thanks

  • http://www.charlesfrith.com charlesfrith

    I’m glad you wrote this because it’s been top of my mind too recently. Relationships are difficult to pin down in any one set of words and if we’re candid we’ve used war terminology to acquire ‘consumers’ in the past and I guess it just smacks of hypocrisy to want to hang out with our customers in socialised media.

    Quality thinking as ever Adrian.

  • http://icontract.wordpress.com/ Nishad

    Adrian

    Is there a video of the presentation somewhere?

    Thanks

  • http://www.charlesfrith.com charlesfrith

    I'm glad you wrote this because it's been top of my mind too recently. Relationships are difficult to pin down in any one set of words and if we're candid we've used war terminology to acquire 'consumers' in the past and I guess it just smacks of hypocrisy to want to hang out with our customers in socialised media.

    Quality thinking as ever Adrian.

  • http://digitalstrategy.typepad.com/ Rich Nadworny

    Hi Adrian,

    Thanks for posting this. You got another reaction from Michael Martine at http://remarkablogger.com/2010/02/07/social-media-marketing-may-be-about-driving-behavior-not-conversation/

    Nishad, yes there is a video. Seamus Walsh of Vazt.org filmed Adrian’s presentation, it’s at http://digitalstrategy.typepad.com/digital_strategy/2010/02/btvsmb-the-movie.html

  • Anonymous

    I think the bottom line is that people like to do business (and buy things from) people that they feel comfortable with. How one establishes that “comfort” varies by industry, but in many cases this does involve some type of relationship – relationship with the brand and relationship with those people behind the brand.

    Social Steve

  • http://www.socialmediabreakfast.com/2010/02/09/btvsmb-february-1-2010/ #BTVSMB – February 1, 2010

    [...] You can see Adrian Ho’s presentation here. [...]

  • Brendon Keenan

    I recently joined a Facebook group, one of the many groups that are for people that come from a particular town. You Know You’re From (insert town name) If…

    I was taken by the amount of commentary that revolved around the many businesses that people remembered. The shoe store, the car dealer, the Italian restaurant. Not only the businesses, but the people who ran or worked at the businesses. In some cases these memories go back 40 years, and the names of the cashiers, or the waitress, or the shop owners are still fresh in their minds.

    I don’t think brands can bring back the days of Mayberry, but they can certainly innovate and work harder to create relationships that customers are obviously craving.

  • http://zeusjones.com/blog adrianho

    Thanks Charles. I love your observation about hypocrisy. There’s a cynicism evident in both approaches. Let’s face it, many brands aren’t really looking for real relationships either, they’re looking for sales. Relationships develop over time and trust. They can’t be switched on and off at will to satisfy a desire for marketing efficiency.

  • http://zeusjones.com/blog adrianho

    Thanks for the update Rich, I’ll embed these in the body of the post.

  • http://zeusjones.com/blog adrianho

    @Brendon & SocialSteve I don’t disagree but I think it’s likely that these “relationships” weren’t created through marketing designed to create a relationship. I don’t think relationships can be manufactured en masse, and I think they are an exception rather than a rule. Do you really want to give a brand access to your life in the way you would a friend or relative? I think we need to be wary of our goals as marketers and also of hyperbole in our reach.

  • http://digitalstrategy.typepad.com/ Rich Nadworny

    Hi Adrian,

    Thanks for posting this. You got another reaction from Michael Martine at http://remarkablogger.com/2010/02/07/social-med…

    Nishad, yes there is a video. Seamus Walsh of Vazt.org filmed Adrian's presentation, it's at http://digitalstrategy.typepad.com/digital_stra…

  • SocialSteve

    I think the bottom line is that people like to do business (and buy things from) people that they feel comfortable with. How one establishes that “comfort” varies by industry, but in many cases this does involve some type of relationship – relationship with the brand and relationship with those people behind the brand.

    Social Steve

  • Brendon Keenan

    I recently joined a Facebook group, one of the many groups that are for people that come from a particular town. You Know You're From (insert town name) If…

    I was taken by the amount of commentary that revolved around the many businesses that people remembered. The shoe store, the car dealer, the Italian restaurant. Not only the businesses, but the people who ran or worked at the businesses. In some cases these memories go back 40 years, and the names of the cashiers, or the waitress, or the shop owners are still fresh in their minds.

    I don't think brands can bring back the days of Mayberry, but they can certainly innovate and work harder to create relationships that customers are obviously craving.

  • http://zeusjones.com/blog adrianho

    Thanks Charles. I love your observation about hypocrisy. There's a cynicism evident in both approaches. Let's face it, many brands aren't really looking for real relationships either, they're looking for sales. Relationships develop over time and trust. They can't be switched on and off at will to satisfy a desire for marketing efficiency.

  • http://zeusjones.com/blog adrianho

    Thanks for the update Rich, I'll embed these in the body of the post.

  • http://zeusjones.com/blog adrianho

    @Brendon & SocialSteve I don't disagree but I think it's likely that these “relationships” weren't created through marketing designed to create a relationship. I don't think relationships can be manufactured en masse, and I think they are an exception rather than a rule. Do you really want to give a brand access to your life in the way you would a friend or relative? I think we need to be wary of our goals as marketers and also of hyperbole in our reach.

  • Anonymous

    If marketing truly engages in conversations (listening and responding), marketing can “manufacture” relationships. Masses? Not immediate, but over time – yes. A commitment to listening and conversations in the long haul. Want to see impact – start with the “influencers” in your target segment.

    Social Steve

  • SocialSteve

    If marketing truly engages in conversations (listening and responding), marketing can “manufacture” relationships. Masses? Not immediate, but over time – yes. A commitment to listening and conversations in the long haul. Want to see impact – start with the “influencers” in your target segment.

    Social Steve

  • http://e-strategyblog.com/2010/02/minnesota-monday-%e2%80%93-communications-bloggers-posts-from-last-week-23/ Minnesota Monday – Communications Bloggers Posts From The Week Ending 02/14/10 | e-Strategy Internet Marketing Blog

    [...] Adrian posts the presentation he gave to the Burlington (VT) Social Media Breakfast [...]

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